SLT

• Assumptions

  • Bandura agreed with the behaviourists that much of our behaviour is learned from our environment through experience
  • HOWEVER SLT proposed the role of observation and imitiation of role models within a social context
  • There is also a role for mediational processes in learning which involce cognitive factors that come in between the stimulus and the response
• Stages in observational learning

  • behaviour is observed
  • behaviour is modelled by a role model
  • identification - when an observer assosciates the role model with themselves and wants to be like them
  • whether behaviour is repeated or not depends on the reinforcement or punishment
  • behaviour is imitated
  • this can then be directly reinforced through positive reinforcement
• Vicarious reinforcement

  • this is a fomr of indirect learning where reinforcement occurs through observing the consequences of another's behaviour
• We do not simply observe and imitate. The thought prior to imitation is known as mediational processes. It occurs between the stimulus and response.

  A - attention - extent to which we notice behaviours

  R - retention - involves cognitive process of memory

  R- reproduction- ability to perform the behaviour

  M- motivation - the will to perform the behaviour, often determined by whether behaviour will be rewarded or punished
• Research evidence - Bandura

  He examined the role of a model on influencing behaviour. They recorded the behaviour of young children who watched an adult behave aggressively towards a bobo doll.
• Bandura - procedure

  • 72 children aged 3-6 years
  • 3 groups, including a control group that did not see any model
  • In the non aggressive group, the model played with small toys for ten minutes
  • In the aggressive condition, models played with toys for one minute and kicked the bobo doll aggressively
  • All Ps were frustrated by being taken to another room full of toys and told the toys were for other children
  • The Ps were taken to another room with a Bobo doll and observed through a two way mirror for twenty minutes
  • The researcher tallied the responses of the children , physical + verbal aggression
• Bandura- Findings

  • children exposed to aggressive models were more likely to act in physically aggressive ways than those not exposed
  • boys acted more aggressively than girls
  • a greater level of imitation of behaviour if the role model was the same gender as the child
• A03

  • Research support comes from Bandura, which shows support fr the ideas of identification, imitation and modelling
  • HOWEVER the research has weaknesses, one consistent finding in Bobo doll studies is that boys were often more aggressive than girls which could be due to hormonal differences rather than SLT
• A03

  • A weakness of this research is that the childrens behaviour may have been as a result of demant characteristics
  • Most people would hit the Bobo doll as this is the purpose that it is designed for
  • This evidence may not be valid for SLT
• A03

  • Strength - emphasises the cognitive factors in learning
  • neither classical nor operant conditioning offers a complex adequate explanation of human behaviour alone
  • SLT provides a more comprehensive explanation, with mediational processes involved
• A03

  • Cultural differences can be explained due to the fact that SLT principles can account for how we learn from individuals and media
  • Also suggests how cultural norms are transmitted through societies
  • A range of behaviours can be understood, such as gender roles